Region Briefs

Caddo Parish

Chimp Haven fall Discovery Days resume

KEITHVILLE - The first fall Discovery Day at Chimp Haven will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. This months' focus is on Africa, with African dances by the Power and Grace School of Performing Arts and a vendor, The Do Good Store, selling items from underprivileged communities in African countries.

New to Discovery Days are food vendors. Po'Boy & Rich Girls and Geauxsicles will be on site.

Admission is free. Donations for the chimps such as peanut butter, honey, sugar free Jello and streamers will be accepted.

Bienville Parish

Fundraising golf tournament set Saturday

ARCADIA - The Roger C. & Lafaye Jackson Memorial Scholarship Golf Classic will be held Saturday at Trails End Golf Course in Arcadia.

Claiborne Parish

Homer mayor recall petition fails

HOMER - A recall petition directed at the removal of Homer Mayor Alecia Smith has failed since it did not contain the adequate number of validated signatures, according to the state attorney general's office.

The petition was filed with the governor's office on Sept. 3. On Monday, the attorney general's office issued an opinion noting the recall effort did not meet the statutory requirements for a special election.

Recall petitioners, led by Chairman Willie Curry, needed to obtain 33.3 percent of the town's 1,981 registered voters, which would have been 660 signatures. Registrar Patricia Sanders validated 636 names, or 32.1 percent.

Natchitoches Parish

NSU fall enrollment drops by 503

NATCHITOCHES - Northwestern State University's fall enrollment is 8,944 students, according to Registrar Lillie Frazier Bell, which is down by 503 from last fall's total of 9,447.

NSU officials said the decline in enrollment was created by several factors, including changes in student financial aid, budget reductions that led to a loss of university funded scholarships, increases in tuition in recent years and larger numbers of students opting to begin postsecondary study at the state's community and technical colleges.

The entering freshman class was 1,234, which was ahead of university projections for this semester and larger than the average freshman class size over the past five years. This fall's average ACT score of entering freshman is 21.6, which is above the state average of 19.5 with 72.2 percent of those students recording ACT scores above the state average and 58.1 percent exceeding the national average.

Two of NSU's newest academic programs showed significant growth. Enrollment in the graduate program in homeland security more than doubled. The Bachelor of Applied Science in Allied Health program grew by 18 percent. The Louisiana Scholars' College continued a positive trend with 215 majors, the largest number in a decade.